Once your divorce is final, you should turn all your attention to creating a better life for you and your children in the future. While it’s not always easy to co-parent, dedicating yourself to doing the right thing will ease your stress.
Unfortunately, it’s easy to make mistakes with your children after divorce, with these among the most common:
- Force your children to take sides: Don’t ask your children who they like better. Don’t prompt your children to tell your ex that they’d rather spend time with you. Putting your children in the middle will increase tension for all parties involved.
- Assuming you’ll never have to see your ex again: This may be possible if you don’t have children together, but when co-parenting you’ll have to communicate and see your ex from time to time. Showing your children that you’re able to get along is healthy for everyone.
- Attempting to keep them away from your ex’s family: It’s okay to do this if you have a good reason, but don’t get in the way out of spite. For example, it’s important for your children to spend time with your ex’s parents.
These are just a few of the many mistakes you can make with your children after divorce. If you protect against these upfront, it’s easier to avoid complications down the road.
In the event that you and your ex aren’t seeing eye to eye, sit down to work things out. If things only get worse, review your parenting agreement and legal rights. Now maybe the time to take action, such as by requesting a modification to your custody agreement.
